Help - son walks home in dark and won't hear of "reflective tabbard" - any ideas?

[stillfeel18inside]

I'm sure this must be a problem for most parents of secondary school pupils, but it's only just occured to me: after half-term my DS will be walking home in the dark every day. He got wobbly-chinned when I talked to him about wearing some kind of reflective tabbard/stripe/even an armband/stickers because "nobody else will"! Had a quick look online and I must admit most of the reflective stuff is pretty horrible or babyish - how do YOU make your DCs more visible but still cool?!

stick them to his bag?

TBH I don't give a shit about cool when it comes to safety but

have you thought of getting plain reflective tape and sticking it on to his bag rather than his clothing

get him a bright coat?

Buy him a rucksack with built in reflector thingies on the back - when he lifts his bag he will be visible

Buy him a torch... I know he won't want it, but he may be glad of it when it really does get dark

See if you can arrange surreptitiously for him to walk back with a group of others - safety in numbers and all that...

DD's friend rode his bike down to our house in the dark last week - he had on a reflective tabard. However nobody could see it as he had covered it with a fleece which covered it completely. He said his mum had made him wear it, he sneakily put the feelce on when round the corner.

I think you are pissing against the wind trying to get teenagers to wear high vis vest, tbh.

What about something like this?

Not sure anything safety wise will ever be cool, but at least they're not too 'in your face'. Could you stick a strip on the bottom of his jacket?

Runners wear really cool reflective stuff - usually a material which is silver grey colour normally but reflects brilliantly. I have a running jacket with some on.

I'd go for that rather than a yellow acket type style.

I think the problem is the fact you are calling it a reflective tabbard.

I used to work in a cafe when I was 14 and LOAATHED wearing a tabard. Just the name made me shudder. I used to run into the kictchen and pretend to clean if any of my mates came in the cafe.

My ds has a ski jacket with white panels []homeshopping.24studio.co.uk/christmas-book/clothing-footwear/mens-by-brand/helly-hansen/3/hellyhansenmenstaigajacket/4/?source=TX3A]] which I have managed to persuade him to wear when its dark

Plain reflective stickers from the cycle shop on his jacket should be pretty unobtrusive; demand a horrible tabard and then "compromise" on them.

agree
not a chance

could you get him a few flashing kwyrings for the zips on his bag?

and ask him to turn them on during his walk home?

dunno if the alien ones would work but sure theres something similar out there?

or a small torch keyring?

lollipopshoes Wed 20-Oct-10 12:30:52
"get him a bright coat?"

ROLF - you don't have DC at high school, do you, lollipopshoes?

Reflectors on bag and cool light up key rings are the way to go.

FLASHING-LED-SAFETY-LIGHTS-HIGH-VIS-/330396361297?pt=UKPetSupplies_Dogs&hash=item4ced286251 these look good

sorry these

Will he be walking on the road? Otherwise why would he need anything reflective in any case?

Both my DS's coats and backpacks have reflective strips sewn into them in any case (just part of the design not something I've intentionally bought), if yours doesn't perhaps a new coat or backpack is in order.

What time will he be walking home? Our secondaries here finish around 3ish so quite a while before it's dark.

What about something like this store.nike.com/gb/en_gb/?cp=EUNS_KW_NS09_UK_Google_NB&l=shop,pwp,c-300/f-4294967250/hf-787+792/t-Men%27s_Clothing/pn-1#l=shop,pwp,c-300/f-4294967250/hf-787+792/t-Men's_Clothing/pn-1 that's fashionable but also vis.

Getting DD to attach a torch to her bag (she'll probably fall and break her neck otherwise). Just have to convince her to wear something warm now .....

Does he have to walk in the roadway? If its on pavement with normal street lights I wouldn't stress. Mine do know they have to wear lots of reflective gear if they go by bike.

Thanks everyone - loads of great ideas! - I didn't call it a tabard and but knew there wasn't a chance in hell it wouldn't end up screwed up at the bottom of his bag in any case. He walks home between 4 and 6 depending on what's going on and he does have to cross quite a few roads. The problem only struck me the other day when I realised there were some kids in a similar uniform (black blazer, black trousers etc) about to cross the road and they were virtually invisible.

Must say I've never worn a reflective tabard and am still alive, so is DH, DS etc. Unless you don't have pavements / street lighting where you live, surely just teaching him road sense should be enough.

You could try doing something with black light pigment - here

LadyLapsang - that can be said about many things in life, e.g. My dh and I never wore cycle helmets and we're still alive, but we still make our kids wear one even though they have their cycling proficiency!!!

But why shouldn't a parent make things safer. And the OP isn't putting him in a tabard, she's after something that will make him stand out.

And personally I wish more parents would do this, as the number of children who suddenly 'appear' because they are wearing black blazers, black trousers, black shoes, and black bag.

Something with a bit of reflection would make it safer for everyone.

jacket available in black. not as embarrassing as some?

If there was a parents evening at the school, would you wear reflective clothing to walk there?

DS has a black coat with a thin white piping that reflects in the light, especially headlights. Being a scout, he also carries a torch.